A day after his public censure, retired Archbishop Roger M. Mahony said he'd been ill-equipped to deal with an evolving priest sex abuse scandal - then issued a bitter defense of his 26-year record protecting children.

In the post on his personal blog, the Los Angeles archbishop emeritus then blasted his successor, Archbishop Jose H. Gomez, who on Thursday stripped Mahony of his administrative and public duties.

"Not once over these past years did you ever raise any questions about our policies, practices, or procedures in dealing with the problem of clergy sexual misconduct involving minors," said Mahony in a letter to Gomez dated Friday, which he posted on cardinalrogermahonyblogsla.blogspot.com.

"I have stated time and time again that I made mistakes, especially in the mid-1980s. I apologized for those mistakes, and committed myself to make certain that the archdiocese was safe for everyone."

Neither Gomez nor Mahony agreed to be interviewed Friday, according to an Archdiocese of Los Angeles spokesman.

The release last week of personnel files from the archdiocese had already revealed that Mahony and a top aide had conspired decades ago to shield 14 pedophile priests from the law.

But then some 12,000 more church documents released late Thursday under court order implicated more clergy offenders.

Gomez, head of the largest Catholic jurisdiction in the nation, also issued the surprise announcement that he'd relieved Mahony of his administrative and public duties.

Auxiliary Bishop Thomas Curry, who had served as the cardinal's vicar of clergy and point person on sex abuse cases, also stepped down as regional bishop of Santa Barbara.

Reaction was swift Friday from longtime critics, who said they were woefully disappointed by the documents. The cardinal's censure, they added, was little more than window dressing."

"Archbishop Gomez is simply doing this symbolic gesture in the hope that it will placate people," said Joelle Casteix, the western regional director of Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, during an afternoon news conference outside Our Lady of the Angels Cathedral downtown.

"But nothing will placate victims of crimes when we know that Cardinal Mahony personally oversaw the transfer, oversaw the facilitation, oversaw the enabling of abusers to continue to abuse children in Los Angeles for decades."

Tod Tamberg, a spokesman for the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, said Mahony has actually had no administrative duties since he retired. But as a bishop in good standing, he was still allowed to celebrate Mass and other Sacraments, and to minister to the faithful.

He said he had no details of Mahony's public duties, but noted the cardinal has been giving guest lectures on immigration reform and the future of the Catholic Church.

Mahony was set to speak this month at a Religious Education Congress in Anaheim, but he will no longer appear at its podium.

"I'm glad," said Kenneth Fisher of Concerned Roman Catholics of America, an Anaheim-based group advocating for traditional Catholicism. "To have him up there as a speaker, when he was involved in so much evil, would contradict with the teachings of the Catholic Church."

A spokeswoman for the District Attorney's Office said prosecutors would continue to review the files for potential criminal misconduct.

Mahony, installed as archbishop in 1985, retired two years ago at age 75 hoping to dedicate himself to immigration reform.

But his legacy of social justice has been overshadowed by a record $660 million payout to settle claims by more than 500 parishioners that they had been sexually abused by clergy.

While promising to release its files, the archdiocese had fought for years to withhold the names of church leaders. The uncensored files released Thursday were the final piece of the landmark 2007 settlement.

In all, the archdiocese released the personnel papers of 124 priests at clergyfiles.la-archdiocese.org. Of those, 82 contained allegations of child sexual abuse.

They contain letters among top church officials, accused priests and archdiocese attorneys, complaints from parents, medical and psychological records and - in some cases - correspondence with the Vatican.

The files, released on the Internet Thursday evening, have been hot. By midafternoon Friday, they'd received 26,000 hits, the archdiocese reported.

Some victims, however, suspected the files were incomplete.

Jim Robertson, a victim of priest abuse, said there were no records of his abuser in the files. In another case, he said the lead case in the settlement listed 19 victims, but the personnel files contained only three.

"This is nonsense," he said. "They're not giving us the right truth, the whole truth."

Gomez, who reports directly to Pope Benedict XVI, was able to take action against Mahony after the cardinal's retirement at the archdiocese, church legal experts said. It wasn't clear if Pope Benedict XVI was aware of Gomez's announcement.

The Rev. Thomas Reese, a Jesuit and senior fellow at Woodstock Theological Center at Georgetown University, said it was "unprecedented" for a cardinal - considered a Prince of the Church - to be publicly censured.

"This is very unusual," Reese said. "The is the first time that an archbishop had limited the ministry of his predecessor like this and has publicly acknowledged that his predecessor did a bad job."

For years, he said Mahony has been apologizing for his failures in dealing with abusive priests. Now the papers being made public only confirmed them.

"It appears to me that Mahony was doing the same things that other bishops were doing at that time," Reese added. "He became a bishop at a young age, and the others who were doing at the same time were all in their late 60s and early 70s. They're all gone."

Terry McKiernan, president of the Massachusetts-based bishopaccountablity.org, said he believed Gomez's actions against Mahony were more symbolic than punitive.

"They really thought this through," McKiernan said. "My feeling is they didn't want Mahony to be humiliated or to take a hit.

"It was the best way, really, that he could get out of a very embarrassing situation. It's punishing him in a way that doesn't punish him. Perhaps Gomez benefits because he's taken action, and the Vatican doesn't have to reprimand him."

Across the region Friday, reactions from parishioners were mixed.

Outside of Holy Family Catholic Church in South Pasadena on Friday morning, some said they were pleased that Mahony was put to pasture.

"I think that in respect and honor of the young people that have suffered through this tragedy, that the entire truth be known," said Mary Hannon, who had just attended morning Mass. "I think this decision is fair, honest and trustworthy."

Outside the St. Bartholomew Catholic Church in Long Beach, many agreed. But others spoke of extending an olive branch of forgiveness.

"There's an evil element in every aspect of life," said church member Mike O'Toole.

At Mahony's home parish in North Hollywood, there was no mention of the scandal during Mass.

He had gone to school there. Launched his rise to cardinal there. And after a lingering clergy sex abuse scandal, retired to live there.

So parishioners at St. Charles Borromeo Catholic Church expressed both pain and hope.

"He's retired anyway, so it doesn't matter," said Josephine Leong, 67, of Studio City, after a 7:30 a.m. Mass.

"I hope everything will be healed by the grace of God."

Others, who have known Mahony for decades, were greatly saddened by Gomez's decision. They said they see Mahony as a sweet church leader - and a shepherd who will be sorely missed.

"He's a wonderful man," said Alexie Offerman of Toluca Lake, who has known Mahony for 35 years. "I feel so bad, when I saw he was relieved of his duties. He's a warm-hearted man.

"He dedicated his life to the church, and God ... I believe (this) might shatter his heart."

In his public letter to Gomez, Mahony explained that when he was installed as archbishop in the 1980s, "there was nothing in my own background or education equipped me to deal with this grave problem."

"While there was some information dealing with child neglect," he said, "sexual abuse was never discussed."

He then devotes seven paragraphs to how he did everything to develop policies and procedures to guide the archdiocese in dealing with allegations of sexual misconduct.

When cases came up, he said, he followed Catholic practice across the nation to remove the suspected priest from active ministry, then send him a treatment center.

In 1994, he said the archdiocese became the first in the world to launch a sexual abuse advisory board, from which it moved toward a zero-tolerance policy for clergy. Nearly a decade later, it was expanded into a clergy misconduct oversight board, from which was issued a charter to protect children.

He said several compliance audits since 2002 found the archdiocese in full compliance of its protection charter.

"Unfortunately, I cannot return now to the 1980s and reverse actions, and decisions made then," Mahony told Gomez. "But when I retired as the active archbishop, I handed over to you an archdiocese that was second to none in protecting children and youth."